Enjoy Your Stay!
"Enjoy Your Stay!" is the 28th episode of Once Upon a Virus. Summary Josh feels powerless within the newly-established group of survivors that he's failing to lead, but not as powerless as Primadonna Girl when her zombie minions begin to turn against her. She pleads sanctuary with the group, most of whom want to see her dead, but Josh vouches for her, more invested in doing so once she reveals that she might have a way to keep the monsters at bay. Meanwhile, Joe and Liz share some awkward romantic tension, and Joanna's army is let loose in its entirety. And in flashbacks, Josh wakes up the morning after his Virus has been enacted, ecstatic to be at the helm of the miserable town of Storywik. Plot The group of survivors are trying to sleep around the building of The Sword and Hammer. Josh has found a couch to rest upon, but his sleeping is troubled. In his head, he hears Primadonna Girl's voice: "You think you can protect them, Reg?" she taunts, "You're wrong." (see "The Gypsy") And then the screaming. The horrible screaming as the man is torn apart from the inside, ripped to shreds. He is mere atoms in seconds. Painful seconds, and there was nothing that Josh did about it. He grunts in his sleep, gritting his teeth and writhing around. A tear leaks from his eye, and then the words just repeat in his head, "You're wrong, you're wrong, you're '''wrong'…" Primadonna Girl, meanwhile, is happily walking the streets, telling her zombies, "Find Reginafan2626… and give him a big kiss from me. Oh yes… I want that wretched cur to be shedding flesh by dawn." The zombies don't really move, and she looks annoyed, saying, "Um… you may have rotted-out ear canals but I know full-well you can hear me, now adhere to my demands, dammit!" Her screaming causes a few to turn to her, and then they begin approaching with hungry looks in their eyes. "What're you doing?" she mumbles meekly. They're closing in on her now. "No…" she utters, "No, no, no…" They're getting really close now, mumling and grumbling… and then one goes to take a bite out of her neck. Luckily (for her), she teleports out just in time, ending up lying down beside the town line. She stands up, dusts herself off, and exclaims, "I ''hate this town!" The shot moves around the nearby welcome sign where, beneath the words Welcome to Storywik, we zoom in on the words Enjoy Your Stay!. The same words are zoomed out of as we're shown the welcome sign at a time when it was freshly created, just after dawn. Storywik, Maine 1993 The First Day The digital clock in his lavish bedroom strikes 8:15, and Joshua King hits the snooze button for the very first time, before sitting up in his bed, looking around the room and feeling the expensive silk sheets under his hands. He looks at the alarm clock properly now and looks awestruck by its technological properties, and then to the bedside lamp, and the lightshade in the ceiling. He gets out of bed, to his feet, and approaches the large window, drawing the fancy curtains to reveal a fantastic view of the town that is Storywik. "I did it…" he utters with a smile on his face, "I'm in control…" He begins to laugh maliciously and heads over to the wardrobe, where an array of black suits awaits him. He holds two of them by their coat hangers and hovers them in front of himself as he stands before the mirror, deciding which one he should put on. "A little less extravagant than I'm used to, but… I'll bite," he comments, finally deciding. "Daddy!" he hears once he's put the suit on, "Come downstairs, I've made breakfast!" Recognizing his daughter's beautiful voice anywhere, Josh heads downstairs, where she's prepared a pile of burnt pancakes. "I'm… not so good at cooking," she laughs, but he smiles and assures her that it's okay, kissing her forehead. He then sits down to his blackened pancakes and asks his daughter, "What's the occasion?" "Well," she says, "Tonight is the night I move in with Ben." She stares at the diamond engagement ring on her left hand, and Josh murmurs, "Yes… Villain fan…" He smiles yet again, and Justine asks, "What?" "Oh, nothing," he assures her, "Thank you for the pancakes La— Justine." "You're welcome," she tells him. "Yes… yes I am." Josh is next seen strolling through Storywik on the way to his office, smiling at all the townspeople he sees. Tiago Smith is seen sighing on his way back to The Sword and Hammer. Ricardo Jones just looks plain scared of the Mayor, and tries to avoid his gaze. He walks by the library, and Silvia Florence looks entirely bored as she restacks the shelves filled with books that nobody looks at. Selena Tice is struggling to get her purse over her coat and nurse's uniform, eventually tripping and slamming her face on the pavement, dropping her purse and its contents all over the ground as she does so; Josh gives an amused chuckle. Dr. Brad Sonya is rushing back to his office, looking very unflattered by tweed. Josh then walks by the rundown-looking town motel and sees Keegan and Rappy Glitter standing in front of it. "How's business?" Josh stops to ask the former fairies. "Not… great, Mr. Mayor," Rappy replies nervously. "Sorry to hear it… still… beautiful day, isn't it?" They nod, too scared not to agree, and Josh's smile is immeasurable as he walks away from the miserable couple. In the present, Josh approaches Sannse to see if he can sit with her, because the other tables in the bar are taken, but she quickly kicks away the chair he's reaching for with her foot. He rolls his eyes and goes to sit at the bar. On the way, he accidentally bumps into someone. He goes to apologize, but that person just looks so disgusted with the Evil Bureaucrat. When he does finally sit at the bar, he looks out at the group of survivors and sighs with loneliness, then beckoning Justine over to him. "Sorry daddy," she says, "But this nice man is going to teach me how to work the safety on my gun." He looks to Dlrgirl, who's talking to Tiago, and then just around at these strangers who he turned into victims with his Virus. He sighs with sadness, feeling in complete non-control. Josh arrives at the Mayoral office, seeing his expensive car already parked outside it and liking what he sees, proceeding to enter and have a mug of coffee immediately placed onto his desk by his secretary, Valentina Cunning. "Good morning, Mr. Mayor," she smiles. "Troll?" he whispers. "Hm?" she asks. "Um, thank you," he looks to the place card on her desk, "Valentina. And might I just say, you look beautiful." "Thank you, sir," she says happily. The intercom then buzzes and Josh looks confused, asking what that noise was. Val giggles, telling him that he must have a visitor, and approaches the device, hitting the button and asking who's there. "It's, uh, Ben. Benjamin Leech," he says, and Val turns to Josh. "My future son-in-law?" he utters, "Let him in." Val nods and tells Ben to come up, unlocking the door with another button, and it isn't long before he enters the office itself. "Please," Josh says, "Have a seat." "Thank you, Mr. Mayor," Ben responds, pulling up a chair so that he may sit on the opposite side of the desk. "Please," the Mayor tells him, "You're marrying my daughter. You can call me Mr. King." From her own, smaller desk, Valentina smirks, and Ben nods, addressing his future father-in-law as such. "Now, Ben, what is it you wanted to see me for?" Josh wonders, and Ben explains how he was hoping to buy a present for Justine, to celebrate the fact that she's to be moving into his apartment. "You know what?" Josh suggests, "Let's celebrate properly. Why don't we all have a dinner tonight at your place?" "That… sounds great," Ben assures him, and Josh tells him not to worry for he'll organize everything, then bidding Ben goodbye as he leaves the office. "Valentina," he beckons, "Hold all my calls and appointments, I'm going to be taking a field day." "Alright, sir," she replies. "Oh, and I need you to look up some addresses for me… let's start with the Smiths." "Right away, sir." Josh smiles. Josh continues to sit lonely at the bar in The Sword and Hammer when Brad turns around from the window to tell the group, "I see someone else outside! I can't make out who it is…" "Well we should let them in then," Tiago tells him, approaching the door and beckoning whoever's out there to come inside. Not a jaw goes undropped when Primadonna Girl makes her entrance, saying, "Hey guys, thanks for letting me in. It was starting to get pretty chilly out there." "She's the one who caused all this…" Sannse says through gritted teeth, "Get her out of here!" "Look," Prima says, "I understand why some of you might dislike me, but, I have this super justifiable reason that's gonna make you all go 'awwww', okay?" They all look at her with hatred in their eyes, except Josh and Justine, the latter of which is being comforted by Dlrgirl75. The latter is shocked beyond belief while the former is intrigued. "Explain yourself," Brad hisses, and Prima replies, "All my zombies tried to eat me… and I'm really quite sad about it." They stare at her still. "Wow, tough crowd, you guys are not going 'awwww'." Sannse draws her wand, and other people around the bar begin to draw the weapons they've collected to fight zombies. "Now, now…" Prima utters, raising a hand so that she might do magic, however, Sannse is quick with her wand and, before Prima can so much as give a flick of her wrist, her hands are bound by a glowing, magical rope. "Let's see you try to do a spell through that," the fairy spits, and Prima indeed tries, but her powers are also bound by this fluorescent rope. They continue to approach her with their weapons, but, suddenly, a flurry of black smoke occurs in front of her, and Josh stands between his wife and those who want to kill her. "What are you doing?" Brad asks, "She created those monsters! She doomed our town! Why would you protect her…?" "I'm… not sure," Josh utters genuinely, "All I know is that I can't let you murder her…" "Who the hell made you the decider?" Sannse wonders. "Well," Josh retorts angrily, "It's about time I reassumed such a role." Meanwhile, Rena is off paying for gas at a gas station while Joe and Liz wait standing outside the car. "How is the tank nearly empty?" Joe wonders, "We just filled it." "Well, you sped away from Faneuil pretty quickly. I could practically hear the gas draining," she jokes. He smiles, and says they put up a pretty good fight back there. "Considering we got our asses handed to us?" Liz asks, "I guess…" "No, but, you're pretty great with a sword," he assures. "And you're pretty great with a bow, or, using an arrow like a shiv," she laughs; as does he. They look at each other, and she continues mumbling, "Still… getting into that sort of situation… it's pretty scary…" "Uh-uh…" "Sure makes you… appreciate… what you've got…" "Sure does…" Suddenly, they find themselves drawn into a kiss. A long, hard, passionate kiss. And then it cuts off abruptly, and they stare at each other awkwardly. "Hey guys!" Rena calls as he returns from paying, "That was tricky, the spell made it so the guy in there didn't notice me until I knocked a tin of jerky off the counter. What're you doing?" "Nothing," the two of them say quickly and in unison. "Let's drive," Joe says as he and Liz duck quickly into the car. Rena looks confused. Back at the bar, everyone is laying down reasons why Primadonna Girl should be tossed out on her ass, but she soon speaks out against them, assuring them that she can help. "How?" Sannse demands. "Well… I'll need the Evil Bureaucrat's help…" she says. The fairy scoffs, and Josh turns to his wife, wondering what it is she's planning. "There's a shield that can be emitted, bisecting the mystical barrier that's already around town. In short, it'll make it so that the zombies are on one side of the town, and we are all on the other. Safe." "And how do we know we can trust you?" Justine finally speaks up. "Lady…" Prima utters, "It offends me that you would ask such a thing…" "After what you did to me…" the beautiful blonde utters, looking like she's about to make a fireball, but Dlrgirl quickly holds her back, saying that she'd regret it. "You can trust me," Prima continues, now talking to the whole group, "Because of these." She holds up her wrists and the magical rope that's preventing her magic. "That's where Reginafan here comes into play." "What do you need me to do?" Josh wonders. "Well you'll need my spell book… which is at the bakery…" "Easy," Josh says, "I'll teleport there." "Except…" Prima adds, "I put a spell around it to make sure no one could poof inside, or within its proximity. You'll have to walk." Josh rolls his eyes, and she continues in explaining, "Inside is a spell that'll do just as I promised, but I need someone adept at magic – Reg here – to be able to pull it off successfully." "We could do it," Sannse says, pointing at she and Brad. "I said adept at magic…" Prima repeats. "Well, I'm not resting our fate on the Evil Bureaucrat," Sannse decrees, "I'm going with him." Josh appears reproachful. Just like he does when he steps outside his Mayoral office to find his car alarm going off. He puts his hand to his ears and exclaims, "That's the loudest noise I've ever heard! Make it stop!" "Sorry, Mr. Mayor!" Liz exclaims, standing near the car, "Use your key!" Josh searches his pockets and finds a car key with a button on it. He presses it, and the alarm stops, and then he takes a good look at the sheriff, recognizing her as Rena and Lady's old Chat Moderator. "What just happened?" he asks her, remaining stern. "I was trying to give you a parking ticket and set the alarm off by accident, I'm… sorry…" she says nervously. "You know who I am, right?" he asks her. "Of course," she assures him. And then he turns towards the ticket in his windshield wipers, and Liz understands. She quickly grabs it and tears it up, saying she obviously made a mistake. "Obviously," Josh agrees. He then steps into his car but rolls down the window so that he can still talk to the town sheriff. "So," he wonders, "How's the sheriffing game going?" "Not amazingly," Liz admits. "Oh?" "Well, there's not exactly much crime in Storywik… I spend most days cooped up in the station going through paperwork…" "Glad to hear it," Josh tells her, turning on his engine. "Enjoy your day," she tells him and, as he drives off, he reveals, "I already am!" Forward through time, and Josh is making his way through the streets of Storywik with Sannse. He is holding his scythe, alert of any zombies they might come across, while she has her wand pointed at him the entire time. "You might want to be more vigilant," Josh suggests. "Oh, trust me," says the fairy, "I am." Josh rolls his eyes, and then a zombie walks by. Sannse screams, and Josh rolls his eyes again, because now the zombie begins to make its way towards them. The fairy completely freezes with fear, her wand dropping to her side, while Josh just flares a fireball up in his hand and launches it, cremating the monster in seconds. "Yeah," he says, "Super vigilant. Never know what might sneak up on ya'." Rena is startled when he turns around to see Mayor Joshua King sitting at the bar in flashback. His look of fear makes Josh smile with relish, and Rena eventually manages to say, "Mr. Mayor, can I, uh, get you a f-free drink?" "I'd love one," Josh says, pausing before asking, "Have you ever met my daughter, Justine?" Rena ponders this question and then shakes his head, and so Josh retrieves his wallet from his pocket, "This is a picture of her," he says, sliding it across the bar. Upon looking at the photograph, Rena appears almost entranced by the girl it depicts, and Josh questions, "Isn't she the most beautiful, perfect girl you've ever seen?" "She really is…" Rena utters. "What a shame you'll never have her…" Josh adds, and Rena's face drops slightly. "What?" he asks, and Josh says, "Well, she's rich, gorgeous, has taste… in short: completely and utterly out of your league. I'll just let that sit for a while." "Mr. Mayor…" Rena utters, and Josh takes immense satisfaction in the pathetic look draped across Rena's face. "On second thought," the Mayor states, "I don't think I'll be needing that free drink." He gets up from the bar stool and turns around with a large grin on his face, saying as he leaves, "You can keep that picture, by the way… but it's all you're getting." Now, Josh and Sannse are walking across the field and towards the bakery and the latter sighs, commenting that she wishes she still had her wings. "What happened to them?" Josh wonders, "You and the other fairies were all flying around when Jdg98 was let loose." "They got singed in the fire that burned the fairies away… haven't worked since." "I'm sorry," Josh tells her. "Are you?" she wonders. He sighs, and they continue walking awkwardly, leading her to break said awkwardness with, "I was surprised to hear Primadonna Girl was even alive… I thought she died years ago." "That's what I told the Wiki," Josh recalls, "But no… I couldn't bring myself to kill her. I just exiled her." "All those years I thought you were a widower… I thought maybe that's why you were so…" "Evil?" Josh asks, and Sannse nods. "No," he says, "The reason I was like that… the reason I am like that is… because I guess I always need to control everything." "I get that," Sannse tells him. "You do?" "Well, I'm not gonna lie, I enjoyed being on the arm of Rappy back when we were in charge of all of Wikia… haven't felt that way in a long time… and then he died… and…" a tear comes to her eye and Josh looks kind of sorry for her. They then make it to the bakery and head inside. "There's the book," Josh spots, using his magic to make it come flying into his hand. "Do you think we can teleport back from inside this place?" Sannse wonders. And then the ceiling creeks… and collapses, and about four zombies fall with it, seeing the Josh and Sannse and coming for them hungrily. "I hope so," Josh says, sheathing himself and the fairy in his signature flurry of black smoke. They end up outside The Sword and Hammer, where most of the group is waiting for them. "I got it," he says, holding up the book, and Prima, whose hands are still bound, says, "Good. Turn to page thirty-seven." Josh does this, and on it is the spell which tells them how to make the barrier. "So are you gonna cast it?" Dlrgirl wonders. "Well, genie-dear, that's just half," Prima tells her. "What do you mean?" Dlr asks, not liking even talking to this woman. "This spell will put a barrier in the middle of the town, yes… but you have to get all of the zombies to be on the other side for that to work. Duh." Josh sighs. Back in time, Josh is next seen making his way into the hospital, heading straight for the nurses' station. Selena is there in her uniform, not doing much of anything due to her incompetence in most areas of life, and Josh approaches her, asking if she knows where Nurse Seer is. "Oh, she's seeing a patient at the moment," says Nurse Tice, "I think in the coma ward." "Thanks," Josh tells her, making his way to said ward. He stops outside the room of Natalia Grant, watching her sleep there hooked up to machines. "Is that my old maid?" he asks himself, surprised to see her in such a state. "Meh," he says, "What you gonna do?" "Mr. Mayor?" Nurse Seer asks as she approaches, "I heard you were looking for me… any particular reason?" "Yes… I… um…" he stumbles his words; his attention turns back to Natalia for a moment. "Yes, sad, isn't it?" Joanna comments regarding the coma patient's situation, "To be… trapped in some unknown world without any control over what happens to you… what a fate that is to warrant… I'm glad I don't have to worry about such things." "Right…" Josh utters, finding this odd, "So… I just wanted to know… how you are?" "Why?" the nurse wonders, "We're hardly close friends…" "Some things never change," the Mayor murmurs. "To answer your question," Joanna continues, "I'm miserable in a job where the work never stops and the pay checks are lousy. It's almost as if I've been plagued with some virus that prevents me from being happy…" Josh gulps, and Joanna walks away from him, whispering, "Dumbass," under her breath. Josh walks away too, saying to himself, "I have a dinner to get to." Zombies are dining on human flesh in the streets of Storywik while Josh and the rest of the group stand outside The Sword and Hammer, not knowing how to draw all the monsters into one side of the town so that they can put up this shield. "I have an idea…" Josh finds himself saying, "These things are attracted to noise, right?" he asks Prima, and she nods with an "mhm", which leads her husband to wave his hand and make his expensive, mayoral car appear in front of them all in a black smoke cloud. "What are you doing?" Justine wonders. "Trust me," Josh tells his daughter, waving his hand again and making it so that the car's particularly loud car alarm is set off. "You'll draw all the monsters here!" Brad exclaims, to which Josh rolls his eyes and uses his magic to make the car drive away, off into the streets; off into the other side of town. Its car alarm continues to sound, enhanced by the Mayor's powers, and a bird's-eye-view of the town shows us zombies from all round being drawn to it. Outside the bar, the group is happy to see that the monsters are completely ignoring them in order to go and investigate this sound, and Tiago commends Josh on his ingenuity. "Perhaps you should be in charge," he comments, and Josh smiles. After a while of drawing away the zombies, Josh takes Prima's book and he casts her spell, blowing the ink off the page and manipulating it with his magic. A gigantic shield is formed, bisecting the town completely. For now, the remaining citizens of Storywik are safe. In flashback, Josh is sitting at the dinner table in Ben's apartment along with him and Justine. Valentina is serving a dinner that she cooked, and Josh smiles as she hands him his plate, saying, "Thank you, my dear." "No problem… I'd do anything for you," she responds. "Yes…" Josh says quietly, "Yes you would." She sits down, and we see the four of them chat happily through the meal, ending with Josh raising his wine glass in a toast to Justine and Ben and the commitment they're about to enter together. Glasses are clinked together, and we later see Josh entering the bedroom, "Honey, what're you doing in here, everyone's—" He is looking for his daughter, but Justine has come here to cry privately. "What's wrong?" he asks. "I'm… I think… I'm having second thoughts…" "About moving in?" Josh wonders. "About Ben," she says, "I… I don't think that I love him." "What?" "I mean… I feel like I should, but… it's just… not there… I can't explain it." Josh sits on the bed next to her and puts his arm around his daughter. "Oh, sweetie…" he utters, "I'm sure you'll get over it." Justine sniffs, wiping her tears, and nods while Josh comes to the realization that he'll never have true control over his daughter and how she feels. Ben and Val, meanwhile, are sitting awkwardly at the dinner table alone. "So…" Ben says in an attempt to break the ice, "I hear the hospital has free parking now. Nurse Seer told me about it." Joanna, in the present, is seen exiting the dimensional pocket in Faneuil Hall, where DavidTennantismyAngel is waiting to applaud her. "I need not your approval," Peep says stoically, and Selena stops quickly, apologizing to her mistress. "So, was the mission a success?" she wonders. Selena doesn't need an answer; her question is nullified by the presence of the first Mantizoid, who files out of the pocket. And then another. And another. And another. They begin flying out of the building, into the skies of Earth. Free. "They're glorious…" David comments. "Indeed," Joanna agrees, "With me as their mistress I have a telepathic link to them. They shall do nothing but carry out my will, and, as I decree it, this planet shall once again be their hive, like in the beginnings of this planet before the first warlocks sealed them away." "Wow…" David utters. "I have no need for love spells anymore. I want this world to know what's happening to it. And, to prove how serious I am about running a tight ship… Mantizoids: you are to remove one tenth of the population of Earth!" Joe, Rena and Liz stand there in shock as these… things fill the sky. "What are they?" Rena asks. "Something bad…" Joe whispers. The Mantizoids aren't able to not notice them, thanks to Rena's spell, but they notice everyone else. And, thanks to Joanna's order, they start to kill. Messily. Bloodily. Disgustingly. So many sharp implements. So much relish, yet efficiency. Liz begins crying, unable to keep witnessing such things occur, and then we are shown a shot of Earth itself. Black buzzing swarms all over it, killing people all around the world. DeviousPeep's army is active. Category:Season 3 Category:Episodes Category:Reginafan2626-Centric